5 Packing Mistakes to Avoid When Moving
Mistake #4: To assume quality packing supplies are overrated
There are plenty of mistakes to avoid when packing for a move, and assuming that you can do without top-quality packing materials is probably the most “innocent” error you can ever make during your pre-move preparations.
The main problem, however, is that often a single misjudgment leads to another, and pretty soon you may become confident that you can manage the packing job with just any supplies you can lay your hands on. Which, in turn, will compromise the packing safety of your entire operation.
For example, don’t use cardboard boxes that are visibly in bad shape as they can easily break under the weight of their own contents and cause you unscheduled headaches. While acquiring your packing materials, make sure all of them are clean, dry, sturdy, and have safe and confirmed origins.
If you can afford it, do the right thing and purchase most of the required supplies brand-new – from a local moving company, a home depot store, or online.
Mistake #1: To presume you won’t need an essentials box
A packing mistake even super-smart people make when moving house is to forget that once they place their possessions into moving containers, they will no longer have access to them until after they are delivered successfully inside their new homes. And without convenient access to a number of really essential household items, things can suddenly become trickier than usual and stress levels can reach unhealthy limits.
Avoid the moving mistake of not packing an essentials box that will contain your absolute life-savers. This is especially important when you have a baby or a toddler, and a long road trip is scheduled ahead of the family.
Here are a few ideas of what you should consider packing up inside your survival kit: bottled water and sandwiches, prescription medications, kitchen utensils, spare clothes, basic toiletries, a set of hand tools, toys, and specific items when moving house with small children and/or pets.
Mistake #2: To “save” time by overfilling your boxes
Organize a garage sale before moving out
There are always good options to declutter your home before the move and lower the relocation costs at the same time.
Regardless of what priceless packing tips you’ve read online or heard from friends with considerable moving experience, the worst packing mistakes to avoid at all costs are all connected to safety – safety both for all participants in the move and the actual belongings that are being moved to a new home.
All things considered, spending more money than planned or losing extra hours while placing your stuff inside suitable containers cannot possibly match a heartbreaking moving accident due to compromised packing safety.
Here’s a quick packing trick that can save you plenty of troubles: use smaller moving boxes for heavy items and bigger containers for lighter possessions.
Never go the other way round as cardboard boxes and human backs both have breaking limits. Remember to not overfill your packing boxes and keep a reasonable weight limit of a single packed container of around 40-45 pounds, especially when you’re packing books.
How to survive Moving day in 20 steps
Mistake #3: To leave empty spaces in your moving boxes
Another safety-related packing mistake that people tend to make is to leave empty spaces inside the packed cardboard boxes when packing breakable items.
This qualifies as a packing error not because the inside of the container won’t be fully utilized, but because any available room that is not taken care of through suitable filling and padding materials can cause any fragile objects to come into contact with one another. As a result, such undesirable contacts can only lead to chipped, broken or ruined highly-delicate and breakable pieces.
So, don’t skimp on padding and filling supplies!
Use crumpled pieces of packing paper or newspapers, as well as sheets of bubble wrap or pieces of old but clean clothing (bath towels are the best!) to fill in any remaining spaces inside a box and thus, immobilize its contents. A good way to test whether or not you’ve done a good job packing your breakables inside a moving box is to lift the container and shake it gently. If you hear a (muffled) clanking sound or feel that something is moving inside, start over.
How to pack fragile items
Mistake #4: To go ahead and pack items you shouldn’t have
How to pack items forbidden to pack
Before packing up your favorite lawnmower, make sure you siphon out the fuel from its tank.
One of the most common packing mistakes when moving house is to prepare certain household goods for transportation only to learn later that your Packers and Movers pune to Mumbai won’t load them on their truck due to their hazardous nature. Needless to say, packing non-allowable items will only lead to loads of wasted time and effort.
Avoid this rookie moving mistake by asking your moving company to give you the full list of goods forbidden for transportation. Once you have that checklist in your hands, you’ll be able to figure out what to do with each individual item well before your move-out date.
In general, such non-allowables fall into 4 categories:
Hazardous goods: flammable, explosive or corrosive substances that can hurt a person or damage the moving vehicle or other possessions in transit.
Perishables: mostly perishable foods that can go bad on the road or ruin other goods.
Pets: it’s up to you to transport your pet(s) safely to your new home.
Plants: your leafy friends can be too fragile to survive a relocation trip. Consider entrusting them to a good friend to take care of them for you.
What not to pack when moving
Mistake #5: To believe your memory is too good to label your boxes
Are you in the mood to lose hours of valuable post-relocation time searching through piles of freshly-delivered moving boxes only to find your bedding? We thought so.
Interestingly enough, some common packing mistakes when moving house come as a result of overconfidence. A great example of such a moving error will be to assume that you have infallible memory and will somehow manage to remember what’s inside each box without having to label the containers. Even if you are truly proud of your memorizing skills, it’s good to remember that the chaotic period of moving from one home to another is notorious for playing tricks with people’s minds.
Yes, failure to label your boxes correctly is a good example of moving mistakes you don’t have to make. Just take a black marker pen and mark each packed container with its detailed contents, destination room, and special handling instructions both for yourself and for your helpers. The usage of colored labels for each individual destination room is also encouraged.
